Group Dance - Contemporary (Justin Giles) - The huge flower was an interesting prop and because there are six dancers left, it was nice seeing the six as couples for so long circling around the flower. This also showed that the dancers worked well in a lot of different combinations. The ending with the petals falling was beautiful.
Caitlynn Lawson and Ricky Jaime
Solos
Sasha - The judges threw the term "fierce" around for Sasha but she executed a routine that defended why she’s so fierce. Sasha managed to place several hip-hop styled moves into her contemporary ones. She even did a vogue drop.
Caitlynn - Tried to put energy into her routine but it seemed sloppy. Luckily she wasn't being critiqued by the judges. There were minor stumbles between power moves.
Melanie - Started on the ground and had a very emotionally moving piece where her simplistic movements had heart and passion. The routine was both soft and edgy.
Tadd - Started in front of the stage to Cat’s amusement. He was so swift that he lost the cameramen several times. He’s the best contestant to use the stage and went down the stairs on his hands. He ended with a really difficult one-arm body hold.
Marko - Was turning his body in such interesting ways that I thought only toys could twist. Just watching his flips and leaps were stunning.
Ricky - Went with the dramatic music and it was one of his best routines. When he did the split and then cocked his head with the beat, Ricky's self-choreographing skills shined. His final flip sequence was amazing.
Musical Performance - "Collide" Kent & Lauren - While Travis may be a bit too punky and young to win the Emmy, his routine that he choreographed was beautiful. It's been a while since I've seen Lauren at her best and this performance reminded me why she won. There was an amazing amount of trust between the two.
Eliminations Part 1 - The ladies started the eliminations and each of them had one weak performance. Sasha's portion in the Waacking routine was better than Ricky; Ricky looked like a cheerleader. Her routine with Kent was amazing, but since it was early in the episode it could have been forgotten. Caitlynn finally stood out for me, her Samba was passionate but she had porn face.
The lyrical jazz routine was like every Sonya routine; but she benefitted from performing last. Melanie's Broadway had technicality, but the hip-hop routine was horrible. There were odd undertones of race as well. The first girl safe was Melanie; no surprise.
Eliminations Part 2 - The guys arrived in a conga line for their eliminations. Tadd's chandelier jazz routine was interesting, but didn't have enough jazz. His Broadway routine was stronger, but he had props to help him. Marko had a stunning Paso which had an interesting cape/lift sequence; his Sonya piece had more physicality than Caitlynn. Ricky's contemporary routine was generic and the sticks were distracting, his waacking wasn't best. The first guy safe was Marko, proving that Melanie and Marko were the power couple of the season.
Musical Performance - Bad Boys of Dance - The one thing I liked about the Bad Boys of Dance was that their routine still looked masculine even when they were doing some feminine moves. There was a point though where it looked like talented Chippendales. The camera angles that looked up towards the dancers’ crotches didn't help.
Final Girls' Eliminations - Sasha and Caitlynn were back on stage and Nigel gave both dancers comments. Nigel thought Caitlynn thinks too much, Melanie dances with heart, and Sasha danced with soul. Either way dance would win and America would lose. Sasha was in. It took Caitlynn too long to peak and find her dancing strengths whereas both Sasha and Melanie were powerful dancers from the beginning.
Musical Guest - Pia Toscano, "This Time" - Pia was a strong singer during American Idol, but she didn't connect. The song was generic, as if the Glee students wrote another original song about empowerment. I've heard better empowerment songs on Platinum Hit.
Final Guys' Eliminations - I wasn't sure how America would vote, but I leaned towards Tadd. Tadd was safe. Ricky may have extended his stay, being in the bottom a few too many times without being eliminated but his solo was what kept him around.
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